percentile and did not get accepted anywhere his first year of applications and only had a few interviews (several at top tier schools). One admissions interviewer for a state school very directly told him he was not the type of applicant they were looking for in the current social environment. Second year, similar experience, no acceptance, only a couple interviews as he was determined to be an MD and stayed focused on it. However, after two years of this, a couple months ago he decided to accept admission to a very small DO school. This is where he was headed until just weeks ago when he received a late admission to a good out of state MD program (at a state university).

He's white, male, member of the Church, RM with a perfect GPA, has worked the past two years in a surgeon's office as an MA and he has a fantastic personality. Academics and academic based professions are not the meritocracies of even just the early 2010s. Wish your SIL well and hope he will fight for what he wants.

I feel very strongly about this issue as I have some related personal experience, but I'll refrain from sharing as I put the pen down on this post.